THE OOLOGIST 



53 



plement of fresh looking eggs, hidden 

 among the numerous main stems 

 which had caught an accumulation of 

 dead and broken branches. My 

 curiosity was now thoroughly aroused ; 

 and my vanity somewhat shaken. I 

 determined that I would come again 

 and see if it were possible that this 

 insignificant cluster of trees, unworthy 

 of the name of an orchard, could pos- 

 sibly have withheld from my saga- 

 cious gaze, yet another nest. The fol- 

 lowing morning I took up the hunt 

 again. Now the lilac bush which held 

 the Catbird's nest was very tall and 

 thick. I had failed to see that Yellow 

 Warbler's nest in the top twigs! Well, 

 I should not have found it now, had 

 the owner kept out of sight as she did 

 the day before. This time I stayed 

 longer at the bush and the little War- 

 bler, becoming nervous, came to have 

 a look at me, only to betray her nest 

 withe its four eggs. I sat on the grass 

 to rest and watch. Soon my eyes rest- 

 ed on a hole in an old stub, back of 

 the cabin. No birds came to it, but 

 my small mirror showed the image of 

 a small, white egg in the bottom of 

 the excavation. It had been deserted. 

 It seemed to be an albino egg of the 

 Bluebird, though I cannot say, even 

 now, beyond a doubt. This was not 

 quite the finish. Two days later, 

 happening to be again in the orchard, 

 I found a Robin's nest containing four 

 eggs, on a limb of one of the apple 

 trees, about fifteen feet from the 

 ground. That was all, for that day, 

 but another visit on the following 

 afternoon, disclosed another Yellow 

 Warbler's nest in the other lilac bush. 

 It held a Cowbird's egg besides three 

 eggs of the owner. In the evergreen 

 trees, two new but empty Chipping 

 Sparrow nests were discovered, and 

 in the outhouse, where I had failed to 

 look before, there was a family of 

 Phoebe nestlings. 



Satisfied that I had at last exhaust- 

 ed the possibilities of this place, I 

 started back to the summer hotel. As 

 I passed among the trees, and Orchard 

 Oriole came into view. I had seen a 

 bird of this species the day before, 

 had suspected that it might be nest- 

 ing, and had made a search, but the 

 bird showed no concern, and the trees 

 showed no nest. I decided the bird 

 was a casual visitor. Now the nest 

 hung before my eyes,' in the smallest, 

 most disreputable, lop-sided apple tree 

 of the lot. It stool at the edge of the 

 orchard, a tree so insignificant that a 

 hasty glance had previously assured 

 me there was nothing in it. The nest 

 contained four eggs. On the following 

 day there had been no addition to the 

 set, and the female was incubating. 

 The wind was blowing half a gale and 

 every minute the nest seemed in dan- 

 ger of destruction. I took the nest 

 and eggs. It was my first and only 

 find of the nest of this species. In- 

 cubation was well begun in all the 

 eggs. The nest was made of fresh 

 grasses; a beautiful gray-green fabric, 

 with the fragrance of new-mown hay; 

 a wonderful cup, contracted at the 

 rim. It was placed at the end of a 

 branch, eight, feet from the ground 

 The birds were very quiet, uttering 

 only a few chirps, keeping themselves 

 at a distance and for the most part, 

 out of sight; a plan of behavior quite 

 the reverse of that of the Baltimore 

 Orioles that I have observed. With 

 this new prize in my collecting box, I 

 left the little deserted orchard for the 

 last time. I have often wondered 

 since, how many nests there were in 

 those few trees which I was too blind 

 to see. 



A. D. DuBois, 

 503 E. Front St., 

 Missoula, Mont, 



